Shopping

Just a Click Away

~Buttons: Just A Click Away~

I have to say that when I first started selling buttons, I never dreamed that, not only would I sell so many diverse types of buttons, but that the venues for selling them would be of such a varied nature as well. It seems a given that craft shows and vintage shows would be perfect and natural places one could expect to sell such items as antique and collectible sewing buttons. Buttons beg to be touched and examined closely, and most people cannot resist running their fingers through a basket of them.

What then would be the draw for such a place as the internet? Offering to sell, where the picture of an item, along with a description is all the buyer gets to entice them into sending a check or money order to a total stranger and trusting they will get their item. Or even using a credit card to pay, when the thought that the internet is rife with fraud is a chief concern to most new computer users.

When I first started perusing the pages of eBay items up for auction, I didn’t recognize it as a place where I would be doing business. But before long I was finding amazingly unique items, that in my history as a collector I had never before had the opportunity to purchase. Items I had never even found or seen in my years of cruising flea market stalls. It was all too easy to become hooked. Upon the sale of the first listing I made, which topped $300, I was more than hooked, I became an eBayer

Acquiring a good digital camera is a must. Buttons, surprisingly, show off very well photographically. Having some in my inventory that are uncommon is another draw. A popular button I have enjoyed listing are the hand carved boxwood buttons made in China. Boxwood has a hard_grained yet smooth textured quality, small in size and popular for fine carving. The charming, natural, dark yellow, brown and red hues project a glowing mellowness that cannot be found on other types of wood. These little button artworks made of boxwood impress the spectator with their polished elegance and beauty and in their depictions of curious little creatures like turtles or rabbits. Just as with my show inventory, there is unlimited potential in the types of buttons on offer to a buyer with internet access. As always, the chance to educate is as important to me as the opportunity to sell.